Garment hanger



J. L. SOMMER GARMENT HANGER Filed Dec. 19 1918 {114 ucufor:

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JOHN L. SUMMER, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO J. L. SUMMER MANUFAC- TUBING 00., A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

GARMENT HANGER.

To all whom it my concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN L. SoMMEn, a

citizen of the United States, and a residentrigid and unyielding when open to receive garments; to secure ease and simplicity of operation in opening and closing as well as strength and durability; to utilize the load on the hanger to keep it in extended position; to secure a construction which can be easil and cheaply manufactured; and to obtam other advantages and results as may be brought out in the following descript on.

Referrin to the accompanylng drawing, in which like numerals of reference indicate the same parts throughout the several views,

Figure l is a side view of my improved garment hanger open or extended to receive garments; p

Figure 2 is a similar view of the same partly closed or collapsed;

Figure 3 is a view of the hanger completely collapsed;

Figure 4: is a cross-section on line 4-4, Fig. 3, and

Figure 5 is a longitudinal central section of the telescoping enstls of the horizontal bar sections.

In the specific embodiment of the 1nvention shown in said drawings, 1 indlcates a flattened hook by which the hanger 1s adapted to be suspended, and to opposite sides of the lower end of the shank of said hook are pivoted, as by a rivet 2, the arms 3, 4: which normally extend laterally outward from the opposite edges of the flattened shank of the hook and curve downwardl in any suitable form to hold the shoul ers of a-coat or similar garment in proper shape, as shown in Figure 1. It will be understood that these arms 3, 4 can be bent into various shapes as desired to suit diflerent garments or different styles of garments, all as is well-known and common in the art.

The lower ends of the arms 3, l are preferably bent inward toward each other as at 5, 6, and to these ends 5, 6 are pivotedthe ends of connecting'bar sections 7, 8, to swing in or substantially in the plane of swingin of the arms 3, 4:. The free ends of sai sections 7, 8 are adapted one to receive the other; telescopically, as by a socket 9, and the said sections are of such length that when said free ends abut, the arms 3, 4: are held in proper position and cannot swin any further downward. The horizontal r05 made up; of the sections 7 8 and connecting the lower ends of said arms 3, 4. is also rigid by reason of the telescopic connection of its sections and affords a support for trousers, skirts and so forth.

Obviously the weight of the coat, vest, skirt or other load on the arms 3 and 4 keeps the adjacent free ends of the bar sections 7, 8 in abutment, so there is no danger of their separation, and my improved hanger thus provides a construction in which this is done automatically and without the provision of additional holding means.

This horizontal rod or connecting bar may of course be shaped in any suitable and well-known form which will permit its sections to be pivoted at their outer ends and separably connected at their inner ends as I have described, and I do not confine myself to the perfectly straight form shown in the drawings.

To collapse or close my improved hanger,

the sections 7, 8 of the horizontal bar are.

first drawn apart, keeping them substantially in alinement, until their free ends insane clear each other as shown in Figure 2. ln

doing this the lower ends of the arms 3, 4 of course separate and their upper ends pivoted to the hook 1 move downward nearer to the horizontal bar,'t his action being also clearly shown in Figure 2. When the horizontal bar sections 7, 8 are clear of each other, they are swung toward the arms 3, 4 respectively and then said arms swung downward together, as shown in Figure 3, and the hook l swung half way around into reversed downwardly extending position and lying between the arm 3 andthe arm 4 and sections 5, 6. The fiat structure of the book 1 enables this to be readily done, and the entire hanger to fold very compactly together. I

I prefer to make the arms and horizontal bar sections of my improved garment hanger of wire, as shown, the ends being suitably flattened for pivoting pur oses, andv the socket 9 being'provided by sipping a piece of tubing over the end of one of the arms as 8 to receive the end of the other arm. However, it will be understood that my hanger can be made of any suitable material and the parts modified in detail in various ways without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, I do not wish to restrict myself to the telescopic or socket connection of the bar sections, which I have particularly shown and described for purposes of illustration, as it will be seen by those skilled in the art that other forms of connection can be employed to efi'ect the same results. Indeed, other forms of collapsible connecting bars may be readily devised to serve the purposes of mine, and I do'not intend to restrict myself in any way except as required by the following claims when construed in the light of the prior art.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim 1s.

1. In a folding garment hanger, the combination of a suspend-in member, garment supporting arms pivotally connected to said suspending member so as to swing in a plane common to said arms and suspending member, a bar section for each of said arms pivotally connected at one end thereto to swing in the said common plane, and means for separably holding the free ends of said bar sections in alinement to maintain the said arms in extended position, whereby the arms and bar sections can be nriade rigid and each moves independently of the others in folding the hanger.

2. In a folding garment hanger, the combination of a suspending member, garment ceive the corresponding end of the other section for holding said bar sections in alinement to form a transverse brace between the outer ends of the arms, the arms swinging upon the pivotal connections at both their opposite ends as the bar sections slide together or apart in alinement with each other.

3. A folding garment hanger comprising a Substantially trian lar frame the sides of which are disposed in substantially a common plane and pivotally connected at their adjacent ends to swing in said plane, one of said sides comprising a pair of bar sections having their adjacent ends held in alinement so as to separate when said sections are pulled in opposite directions longitudinally thereof, the ends of the other sides of said frame which are connected to the said bar sections spreading apart about their common pivot as the said sections are separated and said sections when separated being' adapted to swing toward the sides of the frame to which they are respectively connected in the said common plane of the sides, and a suspending member connected to said frame at the pivotingtogether of the two sides other than the bar sections, whereby said two sides form garment supporting arms which can be rigid and each of them and said bar sections can move independent of the hanger.

JOHN L. SOMMER.

others in folding the 

